When I first started getting certified, everyone wanted to be a Certified Novell Engineer (CNE). It was hard to get certified as a CNE because the only way that you could train as a CNE was to take classes at a private training facility. For me, the cost was too high, unless an employer was going to pay for it. Then a local community college (Seminole Community College, now Seminole State College) started offering classes in Novell at affordable community college rates. I not only obtained my CNA (Certified Novell Administrator), but I also met my future wife.

Also around this time, I was working for an employer that needed to have several Microsoft Certified Professionals (MCPs) on staff. They took several of us and trained us on (ready for this?) MS DOS 6 and Windows 3.1. In January of 1995 I became a MCP, certified in MS DOS 6 and Windows 3.1.

Seminole Community College began offering Microsoft courses and I was one of their first students in the Windows NT class. It was in this class that my instructor commented to me that I should be teaching the class instead of taking it. I thought he was joking. I applied to be an adjunct instructor and actually got hired. I started teaching Windows 95 for a Saturday course. I ended up teaching at Seminole for 10 years.. Seminole also received a grant for IT instructor training and through that experience, I finally earned my Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer in Windows 2000. In 2005, I used my status as an adjunct professor to also become a Microsoft Certified Trainer. I owe a lot to the Networking Technology department at Seminole State College for my career in IT.

When Windows Server 2003 came out and it was time for me to upgrade my MCSE, I turned to video training and CBT Nuggets. James Conrad’s courses in the MCSE upgrade tests were invaluable to me and helped me to not only pass the test, but learn the actual operating system. (Which is what training is supposed to do, right?). Later, when SharePoiint started catching my eye, I found TrainSignal video training with Coach Culbertson. Following that training, I earned my MCTS in Windows SharePoint Services at my second TechEd in 2008.

In 2009, in addition to the Microsoft IT Pro certifications, I became interested in the Microsoft Office certifications. At that time, Microsoft was transitioning Office trainers to become MCTs. To encourage current MCTs, vouchers were provided to take the Office tests. I took my first exam in Word 2007 and got hooked. I was impressed that the certification test used the actual software to test you. I became a Microsoft Office 2007 Master in 2010. This week, I started teaching my first classes in Excel.

So, that is my autobiography in Microsoft Certification. I cannot believe that I have been Microsoft certified for 17 of the 20 years that Microsoft Certification has existed. This year my certifications are taking me to TechEd here in Orlando. I have been chosen to work as an MCT Learning Guide in the Hands On Lab (HOL) area. If you are in the Hands On Lab area and see me, please say “Hi” and let me know that you’ve seen my blog.

Thank you for reading.

When I started this blog, I had a lot more opportunities to write. As what happens with many people, life gets busier. I started this blog working in an academic environment and always connected to the internet. Now, I am in a data center with no personal access to the internet. Things have changed, but my desire to keep this blog and make it useful has not gone away.

So, once again, I am going to try to post on a regular basis – at least once a week. I have some book reviews that I have been wanting to complete and I want to finish some articles on Microsoft Certification that I have been working on. Also, Microsoft TechEd is coming back to Orlando and I have been picked to work as a guide in the Hands On Lab (HOL) area. It is my first time and I am looking forward to helping and meeting all the attendees that will be coming to the lab. The HOL is one of my favorite features of TechEd, so it is exciting to be a part of it.

I am also going to try posting short entries here and there during the day. I have always felt that my posts needed to be articles. However, my Windows Phone has a Word Press application that I think would work really well for posting shorter blog entries. If you come back and read some of them, let me know if you find them useful or not.

I will also have some product news coming up. As you know I have been selling CBT Nuggets here on ITCertPro.com. Look for a new product offering as well.

Please bookmark this blog or sign up for RSS or email. And thank you for stopping by.

I will still offer CBT Nuggets through my site as well as other products to help you with your IT Certification. Please check back with ITCertPro in the near future. I am back and looking forward to connect with more ITCertPros in the new year.

This year, Tech Ed is back in Orlando and I hope to be there. Also TechMentor is meeting on the Microsoft Campus this year. ITCertPro.com will be your place for news on these events plus product and book reviews to help with your certification goals.

Thank you for visiting and see you soon.

Tom

Here is a press release from Microsoft regarding Tech Ed North America 2011:

Tech•Ed North America kicked off today in Atlanta, Georgia with a keynote from Corporate Vice Presidents Robert Wahbe and Jason Zander.  They discussed the company’s investments in the cloud and showcased how Microsoft developer solutions will help organizations increase productivity.

News Highlights Include:

• Exchange Virtualization Made Easy: Additional supported hypervisor scenarios for virtualized Exchange Server 2010, including Unified Messaging were announced today.  This combines Exchange’s high availability solutions, Database Availability Groups (DAGs) with hypervisor based clustering and failover solutions. 
• Updated Exchange Server 2010 Microsoft Certified Master (MCM) program: Announced today, The Exchange Server 2010 MCM program allows Exchange Server 2010 experts to achieve MCM certification at a lower cost and with more flexibility by removing the barriers of travel and training time investment.  For more information, please visit the Microsoft News Center.
• New Features coming to Windows Phone 7: New business features for mobile workers will be delivered in the next update of Windows Phone (code named ‘Mango’) to enable even greater productivity. Some of the forthcoming features being announced at TechEd 2011 including search enhancements in Outlook Mobile, out-of-the-box support for Office 365, and the new Lync mobile app.
• New License Mobility program: New license mobility options will become available on July 1, 2011 through Microsoft Volume License agreements with an active Software Assurance benefit were announced today.  The new options will provide customers with the flexibility to deploy application services on-premises or through hosted service providers in the cloud. 
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V support for Linux-based CentOS: Window Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V will support for Linux-based CentOS to provide customers who run mixed-environments consisting of Linux and Windows. Visit Openness@Microsoft to read about Microsoft’s keynote at the Open Source Business Conference today.

New Management Tools Align Development with Operations

• The ALM vision in Visual Studio vNext: Microsoft announced its vision for Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) technologies in the next version of Microsoft Visual Studio. Microsoft described how its ALM capabilities will enable organizations to respond faster than ever to business needs and improve the flow of information between key stakeholders to plan, build and manage-applications.
• Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 connector for Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010 CTP1: Microsoft announced a CTP of the new connector available in the next 30-60 days. The connector enables an operations team to send application performance monitoring information immediately to the engineering team for attention.

And MUCH, MUCH more! The full TechEd North America Press Release can be found here, but be sure to check out the Fact Sheet for additional news.

Keep up on TechEd news and activities online via the Virtual Press Room and TechEd Online where you can watch the keynote, and experience all-day streaming coverage and live interviews. Finally, follow the buzz in the Twittersphere using the hashtag #MSTechEd.

“How does TechEd differ from TechMentor?”

I attended Tech Ed back in 2007 and 2008, but I have never been to TechMentor. I was afraid to reply in a tweet and send a wrong answer, so I decided to do a little research.

First of all, Tech Ed is Microsoft’s premier annual conference. It is not only held in North America, but also in Europe, India, the Middle East, Africa, Japan, Latin America, China, New Zealand and Australia. And, for the most part, it is run by Microsoft. I met a lot of Microsoft employees by going to Tech Ed. I also got to hang around with fellow MCT’s in the MCT lounge.

TechMentor is run independently from Microsoft by 1105 Media, Inc. which also publishes magazines and web sites such as Redmond Magazine, TechNet Magazine, and Microsoft Certified Professional Magazine Online. TechMentor is held twice a year – Orlando in the Spring and Las Vegas in the Fall. Since TechMentor is run independently from Microsoft, you may get to see some non-Microsoft content. For example, at TechMentor, Greg Shields, the conference chairman, is teaching several sessions on VMware. But, there will also be Microsoft employees leading sessions, such as MS Principal Technology Architect Laura Hunter and MS Senior Evangelist Yung Chou.

One other difference that I am looking forward to seeing at TechMentor is size. At Tech Ed, there are thousands of people. When Tech Ed is held in Orlando, it is held at the Orange County Convention Center, which has two very large convention centers. Tech Ed takes up one of those convention centers. The vendor area is almost a small city by itself. Lots of vendor swag to carry home, too. Tech Ed is so big, Microsoft is able to reserve a whole Universal Studios theme park for the conference party. (That was pre-Harry Potter, of course )

I am expecting TechMentor to have a smaller group, numbering in the hundreds. It is being held at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, and not at the largest convention center in the county. This means that the sessions will also have smaller groups where you can get your questions answered. One of the TechMentor activities that I am looking forward to happens on Tuesday night. Dine Around Dinner is where attendees will break up into small groups and meet at a restaurant within walking distance for dinner. It will definitely be an atmosphere for networking.

So, having not attended a TechMentor conference yet, those were the differences that I could come up with. Since I live in the Orlando area, I like that TechMentor is held here every year. However, I cannot say that one is better than the other. I thoroughly enjoyed the times I had at Tech Ed. But I am also looking forward to experiencing TechMentor next week.

TechMentor Orlando 2011 is almost here (March 14-18 ). To get ready for my first TechMentor, I am looking at the sessions more closely to choose which ones to attend.

For the first three days, there is a PowerShell Boot Camp taught by Don Jones and sponsored by Sapien Technologies. Don has authored several books on PowerShell and is finishing up on his soon to be released book, “Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches” Don has also created several videos for CBT Nuggets including Windows PowerShell On-the-Job Training Series and Windows PowerShell V2 — Advanced and New Capabilities, This boot camp requires a special registration, but it looks like it should be good.

I won’t be able to attend the boot camp, but I am looking forward to PowerShell presentations by Jeff Hicks. Jeff is a Microsoft MVP, author and speaker. In fact, he and Don Jones co-authored “Windows PowerShell 2.0: TFM”. Jeff is presenting three sessions on PowerShell: PowerShell Scripting Best Practices, Top 10 Active Directory Tasks with PowerShell and Getting Started with PowerCLI and VMware. As a Server Administrator, I definitely want to attend the Best Practices and Active Directory sessions. My toughest decision so far has been with the scheduling of the PowerShell Best Practices session. Mark Minasi is presenting “The Secrets of Technical Talks: How to Explain Tech Without Tucking ” at the same time. I enjoy any chance to improve my speaking skills, but I want to learn PowerShell! Decisions, decisions, decisions! I should be able to attend other sessions by Mark Minasi, especially the session on Windows Power Tools Treasury: Best of the Power Tools.

Whether he knows it or not, James Conrad is responsible for helping me upgrade my MCSE Windows Server 2000 to MCSE Windows Server 2003. James helped me through his CBT Nuggets videos on the topic. Currently, James is the Lead Recruiter and Instructor for CBT Nuggets. In the past, he has worked with Microsoft on their certification program. For me, seeing James at TechMentor is like going to see a favorite band in concert. After watching several of James’ recordings, I will get to see him perform live. Can his live performance match his recorded performance? I will get to see him first hand. James’ teaching style is very personal. As part of his videos, it is not uncommon for him to share his personal photos to illustrate a point. James is teaching four sessions and I am looking forward to “Using Free Tools to Control who Gets on your LAN. It’s More than Just Security!”

For you Exchange Admins, J. Peter Bruzzese will be presenting five sessions on Exchange. I have watched some of the training for Exchange 2010 that Bruzzese created for TrainSignal and it is incredible! I know enough about Exchange to know that it is a difficult topic to master. It seems that every system administrator skill that you have must come together for one product (skills like Windows Server, DNS, database, PowerShell, and Exchange specifics). However, when Bruzzese explains Exchange in his videos, it looks so easy. And it looks easy because Bruzzese has a gift for not only understanding Exchange, but also how to teach it. If you are an Exchange Administrator, you owe it to yourself to attend TechMentor just to attend Bruzzese’s sessions. He is also presenting a Pre Conference tutorial on Four Hours of the Very Best Windows 7 Tips, Tricks, and Tools on Earth. In addition to being a TrainSignal instructor, J. Peter Bruzzese is also co-founder of Clip Training. Also, joining Bruzzese for the session “Capacity Management for Exchange: Lessons from the Field” will be Jay Paul Gundotra, founder and CEO of ENow, who has worked with Exchange since version 4.

I think that I will be spending a lot of time in HP Master Consultant Bruce Mackenzie-Low’s sessions. I am especially looking forward to taking his pre conference tutorial on Windows Crashes and Hangs: Simple Steps in Finding Every Root Cause. I believe this session may have the biggest impact on my current job as a Server Administrator.

In addition to looking forward to the instructors, I am also looking forward to the venue at Disney’s Yacht Club. Having stayed at Disney before and being a Disney World Annual Passholder, I can tell you that it will be a lot of fun. Disney’s Yacht Club is located close to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. If you are attending TechMentor and are bringing your family, they will love it. The Yacht club has its own beach and the pool is beautiful! Transportation is available to take you to any of the Disney theme parks or to Downtown Disney for late night entertainment and shopping. You can even catch a ride to check out other Disney hotels. You will find the staff at Disney’s Yacht Club very friendly and helpful.

I am looking forward to going to TechMentor next week! How about you?

Registration continues through Friday, March 11th. Save $400 on a full conference registration by using discount code UGTM6. First time conference attendees will receive a $400 discount off the five day conference.

TechMentor is coming to Orlando March 14-18 and I am finally going to have the opportunity to attend! TechMentor is a five day conference targeting IT System Professionals and is held twice each year. In the Spring, it is held in Orlando and in the Fall it is held in Las Vegas. This year’s TechMentor Orlando will be held at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort at the Walt Disney World Resort.

I have heard about the TechMentor conference for years, but I have never had the opportunity to go before. On the website, the organizers (1105 Media, publishers of great IT magazines and websites such as Redmond Magazine) promise an environment where sales pitches are thrown out the windows and unbiased, technical training from experts prevails. There are 11 technical tracks consisting of 60 sessions.

The 11 technical tracks are:

Active Directory Management and Architecture

Advanced Troubleshooting for Servers and Applications

Architecting and Administering Microsoft Exchange

Automated Windows Deployment

Deep Dive: Becoming an ESXpert!

Don Jones’ PowerShell Boot Camp

Getting More out of your Existing IT Investment

Deep Dive: MCITP – Server Administrator Certification Mini Boot Camp

Security and Malware Protection

Deep Dive: Windows Deployment University

Windows PowerShell

Tutorials

Virtualization

According to the agenda, Monday and Friday are considered Pre and Post conference sessions. Most of the sessions are offered Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The conference brochure pdf can be downloaded here.

A special highlight this year is a PowerShell Boot Camp taught by Microsoft MVP, Don Jones. The boot camp is taught Monday, March 14 through Wednesday, March 16. There is a special registration fee if you want to include the PowerShell boot camp as part of your conference.

I am looking forward to listening to and possibly meeting some of my favorite video instructors. James Conrad from CBT Nuggets and Ed Liberman and J. Peter Bruzzese from Train Signal will be there.

Oh, and did I mention that Mark Minasi will be giving the Tuesday keynote on “Cloud Computing: A (Lapsed) Economist’s View”?

Now, do you want to join me at this conference that is full of information that you can use right now on your job? Right now, on the TechMentor website, they are offering early bird pricing until February 18th that gives you $200 off the standard price. However, I have been given a TechMentor discount code for first time attendees to TechMentor to receive $400 off the five day conference. When you register, use discount code UGTM6 and first time conference attendees will receive a $400 discount off the five day conference.

If you cannot be at the conference with me physically, then check back at my blog or follow me on Facebook or Twitter. I will be posting updates from the conference.

I hope to see you at TechMentor!

Congratulations to Kamlesh Rao who won the free pass to the Microsoft Certified Career Conference! I hope that you will learn a lot during this 24 hours of Career Information coming up online on February 17th.

Registration is still open. Microsoft Certified Professionals qualify for a special discount. Check your latest MCP flash for details.

The next Microsoft Certified Career Conference will be held on February 17, 2011!

The Microsoft Career Conference is a 24-hour virtual event where you can:

• meet potential employers
• hone your technical skills
• acquire job-seeking skills
• network with fellow professionals
• glean career advice from real-life experts in the field,

Some of the highlights you will find are:

• Cloud Computing Talent…What is it?  A conversation with Chandra Prasad, one of the world’s foremost authorities on cloud computing.
• Deep dive into the Microsoft Masters program, featuring content from official MCM training courseware.
• Podcasting Your Way to a Job. Podcasting is the perfect tool to open doors, build relationships, and grow your career. Michael Surkan podcasts about job searching, entrepreneurs, and the economy under his alter-ego, The Optimistic Bear. (NOTE: I am looking forward to this one!)
• Fresh perspectives from top-notch Tech·Ed speakers, including Asli Bilgin, Joao Paulo Clementi, and Niraj Bhatt.
• Round II of the wildly popular Are You Careerable? game show with all new content and prizes.

TrainSignal Instructors Ed Liberman and J. Peter Bruzzese will also be on hand again to offer training on Active Directory (Liberman) and Exchange (Bruzzese).

Here is a link to the current agenda for the conference.

The cost of the conference is $50 and registration is open. However, Microsoft has generously provided a free pass to the conference to give away to one of my lucky blog readers.

Here is how to enter to win the free pass to the Microsoft Certified Career Conference:

1. Comment on this article telling me why you want to go to the Microsoft Certified Career Conference.
2. You can obtain a second entry by visiting the ITCertPro Facebook page and clicking on the Like button or just click on this button:
   
3. The contest will close on Saturday, February 5th at 11:59 PM EST. I will then randomly pick a name from the comments and Facebook likes. I must have a valid email in order to contact you in case you win. In the case of the winner being on Facebook, I will try to contact you through Facebook.
4. You can only enter once on the blog and once on Facebook.
5. I will also announce the winner on this blog.

Good luck to all and I hope to see you at the Microsoft Certified Career Conference!

The biggest change that O’Reilly has made in the last year is higher availability of MS Press titles in electronic format. O’Reilly is behind Safari Books Online and has been a pioneer in digital publishing innovations. You can visit the O’Reilly Media store and purchase digital titles of their books in four DRM-free formats: Android .APK, .epub (compatible with Nook and other eReaders), Kindle compatible .mobi, PDF and DAISY. O’Reilly also offers an “Ebook Deal of the Day” where you can purchase a digital title for as little as $9.99.

I wish to thank O’Reilly Media, Inc. for this opportunity. Hopefully, you will gain some great information from my reviews to help you make a more educated decision on your IT book purchases.